Int’l Fashion & Creative Innovator Award Honouree 2023

EDWARD BUCHANAN

Fashion Designer/Artistic Director/Founder

Ohio-born designer Edward Buchanan, a graduate of NY’s prestigious Parsons School of Design and a Milano resident over the past two decades, is omnivore. Politics, hi-brow, low brow, tabloid, catwalk, sidewalk, street and elite collide at hi-speed in his brain, translating into a streamlined, pragmatist vision. “I totally belong to the Bauhaus school of thinking – he says – “I like to build it strong and sturdy so that you will have it forever and it remains extremely personal”. Edward Buchanan epitomizes the post-modern condition of cultural wandering. He is the black kid who grew up listening to Violent Femmes; the Midwest American boy who made it in the Big Apple and eventually found his fortune overseas; the Parsons graduate who was hired on the spot by a luxury company and the critical observer of celebrity culture who happened to work side-by-side with many big celebrities. In 1995, still an unknown talent just out of Parsons, Edward was offered by the Moltedo family, than the Bottega Veneta owners, the position of design director of the brand, with the task to create a ready-to-wear collection from scratch. Success was big, and Edward kept striding steadily for the following six years. A season before Bottega Veneta was sold to the Gucci Group, he left to create, with Manuela Morin, Leflesh, an intensely personal effort – a mix of Victorianism and R&B, as challenging as it was luxurious – that generated a frenzy among trendsetting boutiques worldwide and was extensively covered in the media. When the enterprise folded, Edward briefly decamped to NY to work on JLo and Sean Combs, until Italy called again, this time for good. Now officially Milanese, Edward Buchanan is a sought-after consultant, landing his vision to companies as diverse as OFF-WHITE and Emilio Pucci, to name a few. Working under the moniker KSAT (knitted situations and things), he offers complete creative services. Edward is a creative multi – hyphenate utilizing his skills and experience to educate, mentor emerging bipoc creatives, motivationally speaking on inclusivity in the fashion space, as well as, helming the role as Milano fashion direct for Katie Grand’s Perfect magazine. A knack for the multi-culti and the culturally layered informs his approach. “Beauty to me is being both at peace and in chaos” he states. Edward’s labor of love is Sansovino 6, the knitwear line he launched in 2009. An email sent to friends requesting what was their favorite piece of clothing initiated the project. After compiling the information, Edward twisted it all into a fantasy, created a wardrobe entirely made in knitwear and added the bonus of total genderless-ness. Sansovino 6 has evolved into a transversal all-knit line that’s been snapped by directional store in Europe, USA, and Japan. With its mix of pragmatism, wit and challenging invention, Sansovino 6 has carved a unique niche in the market. Edward Buchanan punctually delivers real clothes with a visionary edge.

Angelo Flaccavento